TL;DR: Our most recent prototypes have successfully passed EMC pre-compliance testing. The final certification will be taking place in June and is expected to take 4-5 weeks which will push delivery to July. Manufacturing is proceeding apace. One of our prototypes has became a movie star.

You can always check out the expected delivery date and update your shipping address on your Crowd Supply account page.

EMC pre-testing

Not long after our previous update, we assembled 6 prototypes for the upcoming EMC pre-compliance measurement. These are v7.2 prototypes featuring EMC redesigns and related extra components, such as a ferrite choke.

This time, instead of going to T-Network, we went to TÜV which was a much better experience. Their control room is more modern and tidier.

They use a more sophisticated measurement software.

Their measurement chamber is more spacious.

We told you the last time that the laptop we brought didn’t pass the test in itself, so we’ve made sure to bring a MacBook Pro this time to avoid such problems.

Please note that the we don’t provide a backlit UHK yet, but the prototype exists

The measurements taken by TÜV are of considerably higher resolution than those at T-Network, and they do take proportionally more time. Instead of taking around 3 minutes, they take about 15 minutes each. This time, we passed the test! You can see the result below.

This may look like a fail, but it’s not! There are two peaks that are above the safety zone, but as it turns out, there are two measurements involved. In the first measurement, the peaks get detected. In the second, the peaks are more closely investigated which usually results in considerably lower values. The final values are marked with blue rectangles below the peaks, and they’re all within the safety zone.

This is clearly a much better result than anything we’ve ever measured, although admittedly, the safety margin is quite tight around 84 Mhz. Endre has an idea how to make it even better by replacing some components, and we’ll test his idea in a week, but we’ve already booked a certification date for June regardless.

We’ll send two final prototypes to TÜV Hungary by the end of May, who will in turn forward the prototypes to TÜV Netherlands where the actual certification will take place. The certification itself is expected to take 4-5 weeks. This is longer than anticipated and the PCBs can only be mass produced after the certification succeeds. Unfortunately, this pushes delivery to July.

Manufacturing news

Let’s see some major news from the manufacturing department:

1,000 steel plates have been manufactured and 3,000 more are in the works. Placement of the switches into the plates will begin soon.

A pilot run of 100 pairs of the wooden palm rest parts have been ordered, and 900 pairs are set to follow.

The testing of the modified injection molding tools will take place in a week.

One of our prototypes has became a movie star

About a year ago, the assistant propmaster of Netflix series Sense8 got in touch with us. She told us that there’ll be a hacking scene in the series, and asked us whether we could provide a prototype to be filmed. Of course, we said yes in a heartbeat. Fast forward one year, we got featured in the series!

Crowd Supply Special UHK - $35 Off Retail Price

A fully programmable, impeccably built, open source, split mechanical keyboard - designed for extreme productivity and ergonomics. Available at a discounted pre-order rate, the UHK will retail for $275.

Orders placed now ship Nov 12, 2018.

Free US Shipping / $24 Worldwide

Layout

Case Color

Keycap Printing

Key-switches

$60

Key Cluster Module (Left Half)

This module features 3 regular keys, 2 buttons and a mini trackball which can also be pressed - acting as an extra button. This module attaches to the left half of the keyboard.

Orders placed now ship Mar 28, 2019.

Free Worldwide Shipping

Key-switches

$60

Trackball Module (Right Half)

The trackball features excellent precision and usability and is well-suited to be used by a thumb. This module attaches to the right half of the keyboard.

Orders placed now ship Mar 28, 2019.

Free Worldwide Shipping

$60

Trackpoint Module (Right Half)

The trackpoint surely brings back fond memories for those of you who have owned an IBM ThinkPad laptop in the past. With it, you can not only move the pointer, but click by pressing it. This module attaches to the right half of the keyboard.

No longer available

Free Worldwide Shipping

$60

Trackpad Module (Right Half)

The touchpad shouldn’t be stranger to anyone, given that it’s a part of pretty much every laptop and netbook ever manufactured. This module attaches to the right half of the keyboard.

Orders placed now ship Mar 28, 2019.

Free Worldwide Shipping

$55

UHK Palm Rest

A super comfortable, truly split, wooden UHK palm rest - designed to add even more to the keyboard ergonomics by tilting and tenting to fit your needs.